Water-elevating device



L. P. S'MITH.

WATER ELEVATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 71 1921.

i bul -ll Inventor.-

,@ mmwm I PATENT OFFECE.

LYBRAND PALMER SMITH, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

WATER-ELEVATING zonvrcn Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

Application filed February 7, 1921. Serial No. 443,316.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, LYBRAND P. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ater-Elevating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanism for lifting water and more specifically to devices of the type operated by the force of the waves breaking upon a shore.

The object of my invention is the production of a device of the above class which may be adopted to give a maximum efliciency with various and all stages of the tides and without the use of complicated, elaborate or bulky machinery.

These and other objects are attained by the use of my new improved device, and the invention consists in an adjustable funnel adapted to receive the force of the waves into its mouth, conduct their dynamic force along a tube to a hydraulic ram of standard construction which functions in its ordinary manner to elevate a portion of the water opcrating it to a height suflicient to operate useful machinery upon allowing gravity to act thereupon.

The invention further consists of the novel features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts more fully hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The preferred form of my. invention is shown in the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as merely illustrative of the principle involved, and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a pre- I ferred form of my device showing the ram diagrammatically. I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mouthpiece with the top partially cut awa Fig. 3 is a side elevation in section of the mouthpiece.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the mouthpiece.

Fig. 5 is a i Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now by reference characters to the drawings in which like characters desig-.

nate like parts throughout the several views,

the invention comprises an adjustable car riage 1 mounted u on wedge blocks '2 connected to a suitab e wheel or screw 3 for raising or lowering the carriage thereon.

view along the lines 5-5 of I Guide rods 4, attached to bases 5 which support the entire mechanism, pass through apertures 6 1n the carriage and prevent displacement of same upon operating the adusting screw or wheel.

Supported upon rollers 7 is a funnel 8 provlded with a mouth 9 tapering shorewardly. Between the funnel neck and the funnel mouth is a flap valve 11 pivoted as at 12 and adapted to engage with stop 13 to prevent the rebound of the. wave after having passed into the restricted area of the drive pipe.

am 14 is provided within the funnel mouth, the top of which corresponds approximately to the mean level of the water for a particular state of the tide. By mean water level I mean the instantaneous level which would beassumed by the Water at any given state of tlde on a calm day with no waves or swell. This level changes with the tide.

At 15 is shown an air escape valve situat- -ed above the mean water level and comprismg a hollow ball16 preferably of metal, contamed within a hemispherical shell upon the top of the funnel neck. A portion of wire netting may be used to retain ball 16 within the shell 15.

Slidably connected to the funnel member by means of a slip joint is the horizontal drive pipe 10 which receives the wave from the funnel and conducts it to the ram shown diagrammatically at 17. This drive pipe in order to be properly eflicient should be of a straight, elongated, rigid character, as isclearly shown in the drawings. However, slight departures may be made from these characteristics due to local conditions, but which at the same time detract to a certain extent from the efliciency of the machine. The ram is of ordinary construction and forms no part of my present invention. The pipe leading from the ram to thelsto'rage re'servoir is also provided with a slip joint 18 to allow, the entire device to be raised or lowered. j Y j The operation is as follow sz 1 The funnel'and assembly is firstia'djusted vertically and horizontally to meet the conditions prevailing .for a particular state of the; tide. This adjustment is accomplished ;ver'tically-by means of the wedges 2 or their equivalents through wheel 3. I

The horizontal adjustment is made by moving'the funnel proper upon its rollers in the direction. desired. Means may be pro vided to lock the funnel and drive pipe in the desired position and such means is shown at 19 as a set screw.

Adjustment having been made, the wave breaks at or near the funnel mouth and forcing past valve 11 closes air vent 15, due to ball 16 floating into the hemispherical shell and travels with increasing velocity to ram 17 which acts in the ordinary manner to lift a portion of the wave into the reservoir. It will be seen that valve 11 prevents any rebound of the water after having passed the dam and having entered the funnel neck. The dam 14 insures the drive pipe being filled to the required level with water, and air vent 15 allows the trapped air to escape. When the water level has been lowered the ball 16 falls due to its own weight.

It will now be apparent to those skilled in this art and I have devised a device which eliminates the usual cumbersome apparatus used in connection With mechanism of this type and also the usual slanting drive pipe. This member in the present device is substantially horizontal and, therefore, is of simple construction and allows adjustment to be readily made...

Various changes and modifications may i be made in this device without departing from the spirit of my'invention and, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In a Wave power system, a flaring mouthpiece adapted to receive the impact of a wave, a portion of said mouthpiece being inclined upwardly to form a dam, a hydraulic ram, a horizontally disposed, elongated, rigid drive pipe of uniform diameter connecting said mouthpiece with said ram, said drive pipe being substantially below mean water level, the highest point in said dam being approximately level with the highest point of said drive pipe whereby said drive pipe is maintained full of water.

2. The device of claim 1, with an air exit valve in said mouthpiece positioned above the mean water level.

3. The device of claim 1 mounted upon a carriage, said carriage being provided with means lor raising and lowering the deviceand also having means to advance or retract the mouthpiece in a horizontal directlon.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LYBRAND PALMER SMITH.

Certificate of Correction. I 3 i It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,412,424, granted April 11, 1922, upon the application of Lybrand Palmer Smith, of Decatur, Illinois, for an improvement in VVater- Elevating Devices, an error appears requiring correction as follows: In the drawing, Figures 1 and 3 shouldappear as shown below instead of as shown in the drawing:

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andthat the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of July, A. 1)., 1922. m I l KARL ZFE'NNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

